Freshly Made Sketches #678

I had already made my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketch by Cécile but when I went to add it to her gallery another had also used the same die as I had.  Back to the drawing board and I think I like my second card even better!  I hope Cécile has her sense of humor primed... 

I had the inspiration for my card for breakfast this morning with 

plenty of freshly-ground pepper:

Inside sentiment:

... make any day start sunny side up!"

Are you curious about the other?  Here you go...

A thank you for a very sweet gift from a friend - it's already in the mail! 

Happy Saturday, everyone!

=] Michele

The Paper Players #729

I have to make this quick as I'm packing up a travel bag for a trip to Marcia's tomorrow - we had to delay our playdate for a bit, but it's all systems go this time!  

Joanne has a fun challenge for us over at The Paper Players and I am taking it literally - use ONE stamp and keep it CAS! 

Here's where her challenge took me... hope it's not too buzzy for a CAS card!

Waffle Flower Crafts: Happy Bee Day stamp and die set and cover die/stencil

I may have been inspired by the Butterscotch Cheesecake I baked for our dessert tomorrow!

Okay, back to packing!  Hope you're having a fun week of crafting!

=] Michele

Guest Designer for Color Hues #106

I was so honored to have a win recently at Color Hues!  Even more so to be invited to Guest Design with their fabulous team!  Here's their #106th color combo - could it be more Spring-y?

So many of the first blooms of Spring are yellow with green leaves, aren't they?  What better way to represent those colors.  These would be welcomed to my garden any day...

I don't know how, but this lovely set was found when I did that de-stash = unused!  

I guess I'll just have to share them with Darnell's NBUS, too! wink.

Looks like Jill's water coloring methods work well with any line art!

I have been practicing a LOT and really loving the Distress reinkers - but

this time it was back to smooshing some Mustard Seed onto my palette for the tulips and then mixing that with a bit of Peeled Paint to 'lime it up a bit!'

A very wet mixture of the leftover inks was added to the background.

I used the coordinating die to partially cut it then added a bit of lift with foam squares and interest with the largest of MFT's Wonky Rectangles.

A trio of gems from PFS and a sentiment from the Mondo Tulips set

 and my card is done!

Okay, my friends, now it's YOUR turn... and I'm wondering if you'll go the floral route or maybe lemons and limes?  You'll find tons of inspired designs from the CH team and have plenty of time to play along - a few times!

Thanks for having me, Color Hues!

=] Michele

The Flower Challenge Reminder

We're loving all the circles and florals in our gallery and love that you are celebrating our 100th challenge, too!  Honestly, how could we do it without all of you?  Here's that theme - remember I have a PRIZE for ONE who is playing along!! you can read all about it HERE!  And, since our clocks have sprung ahead, you have one extra hour to get a card made!!

I found TWO more ways to add circles to my reminder card!

The first circle comes from the embossing folder:

SSS Splendid Leaves and Circle Frame to be exact.

Can you see it?  I just love this folder and all its pretty floral details.

The second is a circle frame from Waffle Flower Crafts

that makes the prettiest place to park their sweet Snow Drop!

I can think of a few special occasions that might fall in Spring:

wedding, or perhaps a First Communion?

Alright the countdown in ON - have you made your card yet??  Remember I have a prize, but you need to make a card to win!  Need more inspiration?  You should RUN to The Flower Challenge reminder post right away!

=] Michele

Penny Black Saturday reminder!

Have you played?  Of course I mean the Penny Black Saturday Challenge!  It's 'anything goes' with a bonus of 'On the Farm' and I couldn't help but think about the rascally rabbits that munch away at anything and everything we put in our small garden beds - even my precious tulips!  

Which brings me to my reminder card using PB Special Friends.

I used several of the little stamps from this set to 'plant' a row or two

and you'll see that the bunnies just can't help but help themselves to a few.

I love this wonky debossing plate - an oldie from CUTplorations.

That sweet, scalloped panel from The Greetery just had to come out of my snippets bin 

and makes for a pretty cute fence.

So, what are you waiting for?  Come on and play along - you know you want to get those Penny Black stamps out again!  And who knows, if you add GDT after your name, YOU might be the next Guest Designer!

Thanks again to the PBSC team for inviting me! 

=] Michele

A pretty card and one that's pretty cute!

I have two cards for you today, my friends ... the first on the 'pretty' side for Jen B. at Freshly Made Sketches #677  allowed me to use a bit of DSP from a very old stash of Anna Griffins's Olivia [2013] Collection of papers.  But first here is Jen's sketch...

I reached for my PFS Essential Label dies and instead of three

equal labels, I made three graduating ones!  It's hardly noticeable but I like it!

My friend Bonnie often enables a few of my purchases - this Alstroemeria bloom from SSS is an embossing folder and die combination.  Cut first, then tuck it in place in the folder to emboss all that wonderful detail.  I cut mine from watercolor card and used these inks to 'kind of' match the dsp... how'd I do?

An Altenew: Elegant Sayings sentiment finished my card.

The other day I shared a Shamrock shaped card with you... here's another cute little die from Stamps of Life in lots of pastels for Jaydee at The Paper Players #728!  You'll notice I did NOT forget the lavender this time! wink.  It's a fun die set and I used the 'piecing' die to create a 'template' for all those pieces to fit after blending each with color.

Dad's hammer came out for a bit of texture using an embossing folder

before adding my sentiment from WFC and this panel to a side-folding card.

Off I hop to pop these into the challenges... hope you're looking forward to the weekend!  I'll be back tomorrow with another card for Penny Black Saturday Challenge and a reminder for The Flower Challenge... which reminds me!  Have you played in both??  Some bunny would be very happy if you did!

=] Michele

SSS Tim Holtz Stitches and Color Hues #105

I needed a special thank you note and had these darling TH Bunny Stitches out on my desktop... they proved to be the perfect fit for SSS It's a Stitch Up Wednesday challenge!  Looking for my stitches?  they are of the cross-stitch die-cut kind and part of this fun set...

My cover panel is a fun dsp from HoneyBee's Spring Fling,

and that fun sentiment is from Altenew's Ways to Thank You embossing folder!

Isn't it fun?  It embosses an entire 6-inch square of embossed 'label' typed sentiments with as many ways to say thanks as a crafter might ever need.

It's St. Paddy's Day and the perfect time to use this sweet

clover die from Stamps of Life that my cousin gifted to me:

I made a clover-shaped card and layered two greens for maximum impact.

I created my own 4-leaf clover from a tiny little violet die and green card stock.

This little bear is from Colorado Craft Co.'s Happy Day set.

For Color Hues #105 and you, and You, and YOU, too!

=] Michele xx